Device for treating storage battery cell covers



Aug. 20, 1940. o. o. RlEsER 2,212,402

DEVICE FOR TRETING STORAGE BATTERY CELL COVERS' Filed Dec. 3l, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 4 t L z, @mw m mw N R s El O 2mm Nm mijn 10 A W4 m a m Tw T mmm. Rw.. Qwmm amm Mi. E,F R T .u .F L5 E C I v E D Aug. zo, 1940.

Aug. 20, 1940.

o. o. messa DEVICE FOR TREATING STORAGEk BATTERY CELL COVERS Filedvnec. 31. 1931 4 shuts-shut 3 Qu mw o 3 0 l .s w N\\ Y O lNvNToR.

/P/ESER. BY w qm ATToRNEYs.

Aug. 20, v194.0. o. o. massa 2,212,402

DEVICE FOR TREATING STORAGE BATTERY CELL CUVERS Filed nec. ,51. 1937 4 snags-sheet 4 l R M N M w 4 x m s m o 0 3\ lm nl.. m QA i M. O. l m l H/ I M E fa W -E- o @L @l H M 9 4 s.

M 6. wr/1 m4 .M a. m M w E w .d m En@ 7 mi m sa H 0 9 7. M @Ef m2 m l i. a o f 4 E 3 l Patented Aug. V20, 194i) PATENT oFFlcE DEVICE FORTREATING STORAGE BATTERY CELL COVERS Oliver 0. Rieser, Oak Park, Ill., assigner to The Richardson Company, Lockland, Ohio, a corporation oi' Ohio Application Deceinler 31, 1937, Serial No. 182,789 11 A`claims. (01.29-33) h Cell covers of storage batteries are usually moulded of avulcanizable rubber composition..

Following the moulding operation a number of after treatments are required, including the removal of nsand the like, and also including trui'ng up the side .g and end edges by grinding. Devices have hitherto been employed for the grinding of the side and end edges of a cell cover in a more or less automatic way. Such'devices involved .at least a pair of conveyors at right angles to each other, upon which conveyors cell covers were moved along both in sidewise and in e'ndwise positions and during such movement were subjected to the action-of oppositely disc posed grinding means. In one sense the invention hereinafter to bel described may be regarded as an addition to such means, since where such means are employed itis advantageous to cause `them to feed the storage battery cell-covers into the means'of my invention.

With the exception of the grinding of the side and end edges of storage battery cell covers, however, all other finishing operations Aon such cell covers'have hitherto been carried on by hand. These operations include the removal of ns, the removal of portions of moulded product covering terminal and/or ventv openings, the grinding of the corners of the storage battery cell cover, the reaming 'of openings, the reaming of the usual slot or gas groove in the skirt surrounding the vent opening and the like. With the development of more modern types of storage battery cell covers, additional reaming operations are required, including the reaming of the center perforations vin metallic inserts to which terminal posts wlllbefus'ed, the reaming -of external portions of metallic inserts, and the like. In plants producing storage battery cell covers, there has always hitherto been a long nishing andinspection line including a very large number of oper- J, ators armed with knives, reamers and the like.

The fundamentalobject of my invention is the provision of means and a method whereby these inultifarious operations are carried on by machine rather .than by hand. Other and ancillary objects of my invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art tions or will be set forth hereinafter.v I accomplish these various objects by that certain con- 50 struction and arrangement of parts-of which Iv shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

` 'Reference is therefore made to"the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my device. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof.

. 8-8 of Fig. 2.

upon reading these specicav Fig. 3 is a sectional view 'taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the machine taken from the right hand end. V

Fig. 5 ls a side elevational view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of side and end grinding means of known form, which may be taken in connection with Figs. 1 and 2 to show the relationship of my mechanism to it.

Fig. l is a sectional View through a reaming head taken along the lines 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the cross heads' of a reaming device taken along the lines Fig. 9 is a sectional view through the machine showing the relationship of` reaming heads to the work being `operated upon and is taken along the lines 9-9 of Fig. 2.

' Fig. 10 is a view `0f the operating means for the corner grinders and is taken along the lines III-I0 ofFig. v2.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of means for iinishing the slot in the skirt about the vent opening in a storage battery cell cover.

Fig. 12 is a plan view ofan upper side of a storage battery cell cover.

Figure 13 is a section l3-i3 of Figure 12 showing inserts of that figure.

Figure 14 is an elevational view of a reamer with which is combined a facing 2. outer surface of the projecting part of a metal insert in the storage battery cell cover.

Figure 15 is an elevational view of a` reamer with which is combined a facing 2f.

"Referringrst to Fi s. 12 and 13, I have shown an exemplary type of attery cell cover Il. 'This is a domed body having edge flanges I2, openings taken along the line the cell cover with I3 for the terminals of the plates in the cells..

' the molding and curing a good deal of work remains to be done on the cell cover. The flashes or fins have to be cut away. The side edges I6 and end edges i1 of the flanges have to be accurately ground to size so that the cell .cover will fit accurately within the cell walls. The grinding ofr the side andv end edges, originally done by hand, has more recently been done upon a machine which I shall describe briefly hereinafter because the specific mechanism with which the present invention concerns itself is conveniently added onto or made a part of the grinding -machine for the side and end edges.

Also the corners I8 of the cell cover have to be rounded olf or beveled. This has usually been done by grinding, and has hitherto been a hand operation.

As to the terminal openings I3, the interior |9 of the metal inserts has to be reamed accu w sert is usually beveled as at 23.

All ns have to be lremoved from about the lling opening I4, the top edges of the opening have to be smoothed as at 24 and beveled as at 25. The depending skirt 26 of the filling opening may be treated or not as desired; but it is usually reamed to get rid of any skin or diaphragm occurring at this point. In any event the gas vent slots 21 must be formed if. not already formed in the molding, and must be cleaned out.

All of these operations have hitherto been performed by hand so that in plants making cell covers there has been a long line of operators with specialized machines performing these several operations individually.

I have indicated herein above that the grinding of the side and end edges has been performed by machine. I have illustrated the general features of such a machine in Fig. 6. Here'the cell covers Il are placed upon guides or a conveyor 28 and are deliveredto a chain conveyor 29 by which ythey are carried endwise in interspaced relationship (being conned by guides 38) past interspaced rotating grinding wheels 3| by which the side edges are ground. During the grinding lof the covers they may be held down onto the conveyor by means 32. Pusher means 33 deliver the cell covers to another chain conveyor 34 by which they are moved sidewise in interspaced relationship between guides 35. They are carried between rotating interspaced grinding wheels 36 by means of which the end edges are ground;

and they may be held down tion, by means 31.

In. Fig. 1, I have shown in plain view, an apparatus which either maybe used alone or may be used in conjunction with the apparatus for grinding the side and end edges of thecell cover. I have indicated the termination of the conveyor during this opera- 34 in Fig. 1. From this conveyor the cell covers,

are transferred to carriages 38 on' another conveyor 39, and ultimately to still another conveyor 39a, both of which conveyors have a step-bystep movement. The cell covers are advanced to different work stations, where `different operations are performed on them. I have indicated at 48 a station at which the corners of the anges of the cell covers are beveled or rounded by grind- This is accomplished by means of grinding wheels 4|, 42,43, and 44 specially shaped for the purpose, Pairs of these wheelsl are mounted upon shafts 45 and 46 and are rotated; and in proper .timed relationship to the movements of theconveyor 39, the wheels are brought in against the corners of the cell cover anges. These means will be -more fully described hereinafter.

-tions ofthe-gear At 41, 48 and 49, I have indicated generally various work stations at which reamers operate upon the cell covers. At 50, is a station at which the gas grooves 21 are formed and/or cleaned out. A

Taking up these several elements in order, the conveyor chains 39a pass over sprockets 5|, 52, 53 and 54, mounted respectively upon the frame 55 of the machine. As I have indicated, the conveyors 39 and 39a move in a step-by-step fashion. The machine assembly illustrated in Fig. 1 may have a separate source of power, or it may be driven from the drive for the apparatus of Fig. 6. In Fig. 2, I have shown the chains 34,.passing over sprockets 56 and 51, the latter of which is fastened to a shaft 56. 'I'his shaft is connected by beveled gears 59 to a drive shaft 60 extending longitudinally o'f the machine. A clutch 6| is located along the length'of this shaft intermediate the bevel gears 59 and the devices driven by the shaft 60. This clutch is operated by a handle 62 through suitable linkage 63. The shaft is connected by bevel gearing 64 with a transverse shaft 65 journaled on the bed of the 'machine near its right hand end as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. 'I'he shaft 65 may be fitted with anhand wheel 66 for manual jogging or rotation of the` machine if desired. 'Ihe shaft 65, as best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, bears a gear 61 which meshes with a gear 68 on a, stud. This gear bears ai sprocket 69, which is connected by a chain 18 to a sprocket 1|. To this sprocket there is connected the driving member 12 of a Geneva movement, the crossA wheel 13 of which is mounted upon a shaft ,14, which bears the sprockets -52 for the conveyor chains 39a. The shaft 14 may be fitted with a brake 15 to prevent over-running of the conveyor. 1

The sprockets 5| of the conveyor are mounted upon the same shaft as sprockets 5|a for the conveyor 39. The sprockets 5|b for the other end of the conveyor 39, though` they may be located upon the same shaft are rotatably mounted with respect to the sprocket 5 6 furthe conveyor 34, so that the movement of the conveyor 34 does not affectv t'he movement of the conveyors 39 and 39a, which, as has been explained.' are moved in a step-by-'stepV manner through the Geneva mechanism from the shaft 6l. A

'I'he shaft 68 bears a gear shown best at 16 in Fig. 5. This gear meshes with ajlarge gear 11, in the face of which a cam groove 18 is cut. A lever 19 is shown pivoted to theframe 55 at in Fig.' 4. Itbears a. cam follower roller 8|, lying in the cam groove. 'I'he end ofA the lever 19 is connected by a linkage 82 with an arm 83, fastened to the shaft 84, which extends longitudinally of the machine. Through the rota- `11 and the operation of the mechanism, just Adescribed.theftiming shaft 84 is rocked back and forth.

The drive for the corner grinding mechanism is-best appreciated from a. consideration of Figs.

mounted on a-stud on the frame."-The ends of the arms and 88 are connected respectively by links 8| and 92 with eccentric pivot pins 93 on the gear 98. Thus, when theA shaft 844 rocks the gear 96, the two pahs'of grinding wheels 4|, 42 and 48, 44, are caused to approach Aandrecede from each other; and this action is caru ried on in timed relationship to the movements of the conveyor. As the two pairs of grinding wheels approach eachother, they contact and grind the corners of the cell cover flanges. They are specially shaped to give the desired corner contour.

The construction of the reaming heads will best be appreciated from Figs'. 2, 3,4, '7 and 8. 'Ihe lower reamer heads are essentially the same as the upper ones, but 'are in inverted position. Extending longitudinally of the machine I provide a bar 94, which bears upper and lower track members 95. and 98. Each track is provided withl a rack 91 or 98. Each reamer head' has a carriage 99 for a base; and this carriage is slidable on the track member 95 or the track member 96. In each carriage, there is a shaft bearing a pinion |0| meshing with the rack. The end of the shaft ls squared as at |02 or otherwise Afitted for engagement with a wrench or removable hand wheel. By these means the p0- sition of the reaming heads may be adjusted longitudinally of the machine.

Each reamer head has a post |03, which is mounted upon a base |04 slidable in ways on the carriage 99. These ways are transverse to the direction of the track members 95 and 95. A lug |05 on the base |04 is perforated and threaded to accept a. threaded shaft |06 rotatably, but not slidably movable in the carriage 99. The end of this shaft is likewise squared as at |01 or treated for engagement with a removable wrench, wheel or handle. By these. means, adjustment of the reaming heads transversely of the machine is' provided.

A cross arm |08 is slidably mounted upon the post |03. It may be adjusted as to height by means of a threaded shaft |09, engaging the arm, and rotatably but not slidably mounted in a bracket |0 fastened to the top of the post, the shaft being provided with a hand wheel or the like It is'convenient to provide a separate motor drive for each reaming head. I have therefore shown a motor ||2 fastened to one end of each arm |08. At the other end of the arm, a sleeve ||3 may be mounted upon ball bearings ,||4. 'Ihis sleeve bears a pulley ||5 connected by a belt ||6 toy the motor H2. The operating shaftl ||1 of the reamer is slidably but non-rotatably mounted in the sleeve I3. At one endl this shaft bears a suitable chuck for the reamer bits'. It also carries a rotatable sleeve ||9V which is fixed as to its longitudinal position upon the operating shaft I1. 'I'his sleeve is provided with rack teeth |20. A gear |2| mounted upon a shaft |22 journaled in the arm |08 meshes with the teeth on the sleeve and forms the means for raising and lowering the operating shaft of the reamer. An arm |23 fixed on the shaft |22 is connected by a suitable linkage |24 with an arm |25 nxed on the timing shaft 84. By these means, the reamer heads are operated in timed sequence to the movements of the conveyor.

As sho-wn in Fig. 9, the conveyor chains 39a bear pins |26 for properly positioning the cell covers; and the cell covers are carried along beneath projecting guide members |21 which hold the cell covers down as the reaming tools are withdrawn from them. .I ,i

'I'he variousream'ig operations maybe different for differenttypes of cll covers; but by means which I have described, adjustment of the reamer heads may be made to take care of different; styles of cell covers. Likewise the reamer bits may be' of any character appropriate to the task which they are to perform. Exemplary types of reamer bits are shown at |28 and |29 in Fig. 9. In Fig. 14,1 have shown a reamer bit including an internal reamer |30, having an attachment |3| with cutting surfaces |32, |33

and |34 for cutting respectively the top, the outer surface, anda shoulder upon a metal insert I5. In Fig. 15, I have shown a taper reamer |35 fitted with an attachment |36 for smoothing an annular surface.

In my machine, it will be understood, of course, that there are as many of the reamer heads as may be required for the several operations to be performed.

At work station 50 on my machine, I provide means for forming and/or cleaning out the gas grooves 21 on the under side of the skirt 26 of lthe filling opening of the cell cover. These means comprise preferably a small circular saw |31 fixed on a shaft |38 journaled in a swinging1 arm |39. 'I'he arm is pivoted by means of a shaft |40 to a bracket |4| fastened to the frame of the machine. A pulley |42 is fastened to the shaft |38, and is connected by means of a belt |44 with a pulley |43 on the shaft |40. A pulley |45 on the other end of the shaft is connected by means of a belt |46 to a motor |41. It will be evident in this construction that the arm |39 may be xfaised or lowered without disturbing the drive of the saw |31. frame'of the machine as to give to the saw |31 the correct angular relationship for cutting the gas grooves. It will be evident that as the cell covers reach the proper position at the work station 50, the gas grooves will be formed and/or cleaned out therein upon' raising and lowering the arm |39. To this end I provide a mechanism also illustrated in Fig. 11, wherein a lug |48 rests upon a cam |49 fixed on a shaft |50. This shaft is suitably journaled and supported as in a bracket |52 on the frame of the machine. An arm |5| is xed to the shaft| and is connected by a suitable linkage |53 with an arm |54 on the timing shaft 84. Y

The operation of my machine will be clear from the foregoing. In the preferred embodiment of my machine which I have illustrated-the cell covers, in the condition in which they are taken from the miolds,- are loaded onto the conveyor or guides 28 and in succession the several operations to which I have referred are performed on them, until at the end of the machine the cell covers are delivered' in nished -condition and ready` for inspection.

Modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit of it. 4Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine for operating upon storage battery cell covers, a frame, a conveyor on said frame, a main drive shaft, a Geneva movement connection between said main drive shaft and said conveyor, a timing shaft, a connection between said timing shaft and said main drive shaft, a plurality of instrumentalities on said frame for operating upon cell covers, and operating connections between said several instru- The bracket |4| is so fastened to the conveyor, a. timing-shaft, a connection between said timing shaft and said drive shaft compris- 3. In a machine for operating `upon storage battery 'cell' covers, a frame, a conveyor on said `frame, al main drive shaft, a Geneva movement connection betweenjsaid drive shaft and said conveyor, a timing shaft, a connection between said timing shaft and said drive 'shaft comprising a cam whereby'said timing shaft is rocked in accordance with the step-by-step movements of said conveyor, and means on said frame for operating upon said cell covers, and operative connections between said means and said timing shaft, said means comprising reamer devices; each having an'operating shaft and a drive, means for raising and lowering said operating shaft, said connection to said timing shaft being a connection to said last mentioned means.

4. In a machine for operating upon storage battery cell covers, a frame, a conveyor onsaid frame, a main dn've shaft, a Geneva movement connection between said drive shaft and saidconveyor, a timing shaft, a connection between said timing shaft and said drive shaft comprising a l cam whereby said timing shaft is rocked in accordance with the step-by-step movements of said conveyorjand means on said frame for operating upon said cell covers, and operative connectionsV between said means and said timing shaft, said means comprising a track mountedl longitudinally of said frame, a carriage on said track, aV

post mounted for transverse movement on said carriage, a cross head mounted for longitudinal movement on said post, an operating shaft slidably journaled in said .cross arm and bearing a chuck for a reamer bit, rack and pinion means for raising and lowering said shaft and a connection between said rack and pinion means and said timing shaft.

5. In a machine for operating upon storage battery sell covers, a frame,A conveyor means mounted upon said frame for moving cell covers in a step-by-step manner to and from a plurality of work stations, and at said several stations instrumentalities for operating upon said cell covers, and means for actuating said instrumentalities in timed relationship, t the movements of said conveyor, said instrumentalities comprising at least one reamer device and means for grinding the corners of said cell covers.

6. In a machine for operatin upon storage battery cell covers, a frame, 'a con eyor, a main drive shaft, a. Geneva connection between said main drive shaft and said conveyor, a timing shaft, `a. connection between said timing shaft and said drive shaft whereby saidtiming shaft is actuated in timed relationship to the movementsv of said conveyor, a device for. grinding the corners of cell covers mounted on said frame, reaming devicesfor cell covers mounted on said frame, and operative connections between said grinding and said reaming devices and said timing shaft.

4'7. In a machine for operating upon storage battery ceii covers, a conveyor, a main drive shaft, a Geneva connectionbetween said main drive shaft and 'said conveyor, a timing shaft, a connection between s aid timing shaft and said drive shaft whereby said timing shaft is actuated in timed relationship to the movements of said conveyor,a device for grinding the corners of cell covers mounted on said frame, reaming devices for cell covers mounted on said frame, and operative connections between said grinding and said reaming devices and said timing shaft, and circular saw means also mounted in respect to said frame f orA treating gas grooves in said cell covers,

and an operative connection between said last mentioned means and said timing shaft.

8. In a machine of the character described, conveyor means for moving storage battery cell covers steadily in a plurality of paths, means associated with said paths for grinding the side and the end edges of said cellcovers, means receiving said cell covers from said first mentioned means, and means associated with said last mentioned means for grinding the corners of said cell covers, and for reaming the openings in said cell covers.

9. In a machine for operating up storage battery cell covers, a frame, conveyor means mounted upon said frame for moving cell covers in a step-by-step manner to and from a plurality of work stations, and at said several stations instrumentalities for operating upon said cell covers, and means lfor actuating said instrumentalities in timed relationship to the movements prisin'g devices for dressing apertures in said cell covers.

10. Ina machine of the character described, conveyor means for moving storage battery cell covers in a plurality of paths, means associated with said paths respectively for grinding the side and the end edges of said cell covers, means in connection with one of said paths for moving -said cell covers in a step-by-s'tep manner, and

to operate upon lsaid cell coversv in timed relationship to the movements of said cell covers. i

OLIVER, O. RIESER.

fof said conveyor, said instrumentalities com- 

